Review: Message in a Bottle

Biographical jukebox musicals are all the rage as of late, including non-biographical jukebox musicals, i.e. musicals that use an artist’s discography but do not tell the artist’s life story. This genre of musical theatre has been replicated in dance, with dance companies using an artist’s catalogue to tell a story through dance.

Message in a Bottle is a piece of dance theatre that uses the music of Sting (and his band, The Police) to tell a story about the international refugee crisis. The dance show comes from the hip-hop dance company ZooNation, whose founder, Kate Prince MBE, directs and choreographs the piece. The show’s dramaturg is Lolita Chakrabarti OBE, who wrote the acclaimed stage adaptation of Life of Pi.

Chakrabarti was at the recent launch event for Life of Pi at The Lowry. I reviewed the play on the West End last year, and I reviewed Prince’s most recent show, Sylvia, in London earlier this year. They are my favourite play and one of the most refreshing musicals I’ve seen, respectively, so I had high expectations for the creative’s collaboration.

Message in a Bottle was initially inspired by Sting’s ‘Desert Rose’, a collaboration with Algerian artist Cheb Mami, who sings in Arabic. Riding a wave of pre-9/11 interest in Latin and Arabic cultures, the track is unashamedly Middle-Eastern in sound; it’s a real feast for the ears. Therefore, it is the perfect opening song for the piece, in which we are introduced to the inhabitants of a desert town.

The town appears to be in harmony until, all of a sudden, bombs are seen and heard in the distance, forcing the townspeople to flee their homes. Lives of lost and women are prayed upon by what appears to be a militia. The source of the conflict is never explained; it’s unimportant. All we have to know is that these are ordinary people who have lost everything because of something out of their control.

Later, Sting’s recent song addressing the refugee crisis, ‘Inshallah’ (Arabic for “God-willing”), is played.

We follow the refugees on a journey of survival, with a focus on three siblings. Eventually, they end up in what appears to be a refugee camp or perhaps an open-air prison (I guess that’s the point).

There’s a scene in which the refugees fill up a boat, their orange life jackets contrasting the dark colours onstage. It’s chilling.

The piece offers an interesting take on The Police’s signature song, ‘Every Breath You Take’. One of the most misunderstood songs of all time, people play it at their weddings, thinking it’s the most romantic song of all, when, in actuality, it’s about a stalker: “Every breath you take / And every move you make / Every bond you break / Every step you take / I’ll be watching you.”

Your shook, aren’t you?

In the piece, the song plays when a married couple is separated by guards. The song can be interpreted in one of two ways: (a) the separated couple will never stop looking for each other, and (b) the guards are watching them.

The first act ends with the title song, which was The Police’s first UK number one. The song allows for an optimistic end to the first night. It beautifully captures the refugee’s determination not only to survive but thrive. The act ends with the song fading out as the refugees are freed from the camp; they pant as they walk out in sync, exhausted but determined.

In the second act, the refugees are granted asylum in the Western world. The act follows the three siblings. First, there’s a group of women, including the sister, who offer some beautiful, celebratory dancing.

The second segment begins with Sting’s ‘Englishman in New York’, with its lyric “I’m a legal alien” addressing one of the brothers. The people around him are dressed like they are from the future, a metaphoric representation of how different the two cultures are. It symbolises his difficulty in fitting in.

This refugee is revealed to be gay. Whilst he surely misses his home, there is something to be said about Western sexual freedoms which are not found in much of the Eastern world: here in the West, the refugee is free to be himself. He has built something positive out of tragedy. His segment ends with him kissing his lover.

But it is the third segment which really gets you. The man separated from his wife longs to be with her once again.

The segment begins with The Police’s ‘The Bed’s Too Big Without You’, in which the man is in a bed alone. The bed is represented by a piece of set, which the dancer stands in front of. Dancers behind the piece hold a blanket in front of him and move it around. Moving images are projected on to the bed, representing the man’s dreams. He repeatedly sees his wife and attempts to grab on to her, to no prevail. The creativity must be applauded.

This dance is followed by The Police’s ‘Roxanne’, which is of course about a prostitute, complete with its “red light” refrain. In the show, the man finds himself in what appears to be a sex club, perhaps because of his loneliness.

He then finds himself in front of a huge block, with his wife and another person at either side of him, as projections appear behind them. Whilst their shadows can sometimes be seen behind them, there are also fake shadows projected on to the block. Sometimes the two other characters are absent whilst their shadows stand (and move) in their place. It’s a beautiful controlled chaos.

Following three energetic numbers, the drama is decreased for Sting’s ‘Fields of Good’, which was previously sang in the first act. This time, it is sang by Beverley Knight MBE (who recently starred in Sylvia). Knight is one of several guest vocalists for the piece. In this number, the man and his wife are reunited (or at least seem to be). Juxtaposed with the previous numbers, all attention is drawn to the tragic couple and their movements. I was in tears.

After this, our three protagonists are reunited, at last, and there is a joyous celebration – much like the show’s opening. The curtain call offers a repeat of the title song, allowing each and every member of the company to show off their dance moves. It is truly marvellous.

My only criticism is one related to casting: whilst the piece embraces Middle-Eastern music and culture, none of the cast appear to be Arabian, Middle-Eastern or North African. Pieces of theatre do not employ colourblind casting to tell the stories of Black, East Asian and South Asian communities, yet this often seems to be the case when the people at the centre of the story are Arabian or Middle-Eastern.

I appreciate that casting people of all races creates a beautiful, multicultural community, where is not only cohesion but harmony. Further, by having the refugees portrayed by people of different backgrounds, we are told that this is an international humanitarian crisis which affects us all and which we should all care about. What the refugees go through could happen to any of us, especially with the climate crisis, which is predicted to create millions of climate refugees But one should be able to understand the pain and hardships of other people that do not look like them. I think that there was a missed opportunity to employ and spotlight dancers from ethnic backgrounds.

The piece, itself, is a marvel. The story was clearly (and cleverly) built around Sting and The Police’s impeccable discography. The songs do not feel shoehorned in, and even when the lyrics do not directly reflect what we are seeing (e.g. ‘Englishman in New York’), they make sense and aid in furthering the story. The dancing is incredible and ZooNation really are masters of hip-hop theatre, and Prince’s ability to combine storytelling and dance deserves applause.

The designers deserve credit too. Whilst the set itself is relatively simple, there are pieces of set that come and go, and there are many projections that transport us from place to place. The lighting always reflects the setting, from the glorious desert to the bleak camp.

The script, the choreography, the design, and of course the songs, with their incredible storytelling, all compliment each other. Together, they create one of the most beautiful pieces of theatre that I have ever seen. Heart-wrenching but uplifting, it perfectly captures the contemporary international refugee crisis.

Message in a Bottle runs at The Lowry (Lyric Theatre) until July 29 2023. After a few months’ break, the show resumes performances at the Peacock Theatre, London from October 4 to 14 2023, before heading to Sydney Opera House, Australia and the Netherlands for a nationwide tour.